Decorative calabash
Surinam. Late 19th century. Half-calabash from the Crescienta cujete
Gift in 1905 from Pauline and Marie Micheli, respectively the widows of
Jean-Louis and his son Marc Micheli, both close to the Genevan Protestant elite and the Moravian missions
Context of creation not documented
MEG Inv. ETHAM 003534
Many calabashes representing scenes of everyday life accompanied by aphorisms were produced in Surinam in the second half of the 19th century, often by previously enslaved people. This work was made after the abolition of slavery, which dates from 1st July 1863 in Surinam. The Creole phrase “remember me and don’t forget me” and the outstretched hand on the gold bracelet, gold being one of Surinam’s mining resources, took on all their meaning when capital from the Netherlands, in the process of industrialization, was withdrawn from this territory. T. Mouzard
